Why are you paying anything for an Auto-Responder?

This would be a good backup plan for my auto responder if it works I will check it out and post an update.

I'm more interested in the deliverability rate.

Update: Read comment below

Never mind my list is way to big anyways I'm in the 1% as well as far as list size.

But might be useful for the newbies out there to try out before they go with the big boys aweber, or get response.

Because the free version is limited to 2,000 subs.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'm currently with a very well-known autoresponder company, and I've been looking for an alternative.

This particular company charges me more each month as I add new subscribers. Wonderful. I get penalized for being successful.

I'll definitely give this a look.

I've seen this before but did you already used it to tell about the reliability?

And it happens that many people (like myself) start out without using WP, so that option isn't an option.

I'm lucky and got AWeber when it was 19.95 up to 10k leads, now as I come close to that figure I just purchased that other software which was in the inbox lately.

But thanks for mentioning this plugin, worth a start up for Newbies on a shoestring.

G.

I can't stress this enough, anyone using any free or paid script, plugin, whatever that you install on your own site, please keep checking your deliverability and inbox rates. Its very very easy to start going into spam box and very difficult to get out of.

Especially if you are on any shared, reseller hosting without a dedicated ip. Imagine this someone totally unrelated to you on the same server as you spams and the ip gets blacklisted, all of a sudden everything you send gets thrown into spam, what will you do then?

If using a script, plugin or something like that, its very important to either have a vps or at least a dedicated ip, and to get a professional to set up everything that needs setting up. Or you will end up in spam box sooner or later.

I pay $1,600.00 a month for GetResponse because I have a lot of subscribers a cross more than a few lists.

I dont care because those lists bring in multiples of that figure.

Let's say I get cheap and run my own system (which like any savvy business person, I HAVE thought of in pursuit of making my business LEANER), what happens then?

A). I have to RUN THE DAMN THING - which I do not have time for
B). My Deliverability is at risk and I actually lose money

GetResponse = 1,600 per month
Self Managed = ~250 per month (Ded server/IP)

It's arguable that my savings would be ~$1,350 per month.

But they wouldnt be.

The diminished deliver ability rate actually wipes out so much list income that the savings of going "self hosted" are ZERO - at best.

One may argue that I can take steps on an ongoing basis to maintain a system that provides deliver rates that rival those of the "big 3" AR services.

While true, my counter to that is I can't take those steps because i do not have the TIME to mess with it which means that I would need to HIRE someone to sit in my office and run it. Another person on my payroll = (at least) $1,600 a month - and that's if, for some reason, I decided to make the person i task with my most valuable asset, the lowest paid employee on the books - making barely more than a "fry cook".

Trust me. I've weighed the option. Not worth it

Great...thanks for sharing.
Will check it out.
Best wishes and regards.

It never hurts to check something free out, thanks

You can also get full function with Rapid Mailer.

An Autoresponder company charges you more than just the fee to use software, and they do majority of work in background, I would say 80% of work.

The most important thing in any email marketing campaign is deliverability. Do you want to learn everything about delivering your emails and spend rest of your life learning that? or you want to just pay few $ a month to a company that already knows and gets your emails delivered for you without you having to lift a finger?

After all, what is point of hosting a autoresponder with wordpress when you really cant deliver any emails to your subscribers inbox.

Sendy.co is an alternative you can use. Hosted email service that goes with Amazon email sending service.

I use sendy now because they are inexpensive and delivery rate is good too!

Great info. I've been looking for backup autoresponders.

What about the email delivery? Will I get all my emails delivered as I do with Aweber?

Maybe because free is in most cases more expensive?

There is another autoresponder out there. It is called Rapid Mailer which installs
on your site, but it is not free. It is a lot cheaper than Aweber etc as it is a one off payment.
Sid

Wow! I haven't heard anything similar.

I guess everyone should go with the "free" junk. That's good advice.

Everything new and innovative has birthing and growing pains. Those who don't expect instant perfection understand that.

There are several key factors to consider when you pick your AR. I've tried multiple, including hosting my own.

a. Deliverability/Inboxing - You pay hosted solution a premium because they have resource behind it (data center, bandwidth and manpower to stay on top of all the legality stuff) to ensure that your emails meet compliance and optimized for inboxing. With self hosted service, you shoulder all the tech part which I enjoy doing but I lose sight of my income generating activities. Sure, I increase my technical knowledge but my wallet is still emptied after nine months. Good thing I have multiple income streams.

b. Control - Hosted solution has restriction. For example, Aweber requires that you validate your optin again. This can have detrimental affect to the size of your list. Whereas self-hosted solution, it's all on you. If you are not careful, your IP and domain will be blacked list. Also your domain and IP@ are new. It takes time to get the Big Four, telco and companies to trust you while you build your reputation. When I first started, I get a lot of soft bounces. Like the old saying goes, with power/control come responsibilities. Now, you have to run your list against cleaning agent. If you build your list other than via your own optin process, your chances of destroying your business is high if you don't know what you are doing. Running your list through a service like hygiene agent will run you at least $25 per month. So now weigh your options. $19 a month with Aweber where you are hand-off as oppose to self-hosted. Believe it or not, I'm stupid enough to do the latter.

c. Cost factor - Mailchimp gives your first 1000 for free if cost is a concern. They do all the works.

Oh BTW, I also use Rapid Mailer. I have no issue with it. Knock on wood. On the other hand, I'm still trying to figure out how to use Cobra Mailer. I've to segment my list of 30K. It has been going on for a month now. I don't know why I like to take the painful route lol

Nice share. I'm going to give it a try. Although I have been using wp responder and its deliverability is very good.

Check out Robly. I haven't used them and can't vouch for their service. But they came highly recommended and their rates are considerably lower than Aweber.

Please let me know what you think about Robly.

Why? So that I do not burn my servers IP address in case of problems.

Timo

isn't sending from this free plugin , using your personal email address? some SMTP servers that a bunch of people are using ? so, if one of those people is a spammer and the whole SMTP server is marked as spam in spamhaus , doesn't this mean you will be listed as a spammer too? see the big picture here?

My gosh.

You want to run a legitimate, serious business.

And you refuse to invest in it?

I would bet that if you tallied up the amount of money you spend on coffee or donuts or the movies or any other form of entertainment, you'd have more than the $19.95/month a base autoresponder account provides.

And that is a proven system that allows you to create unlimited customer care followups (where you can mention your other products/affiliate links as well)

Move people across lists based upon what list they join

NOT have to worry when WP updates if your list will break

etc.etc.etc.etc.

If you don't invest in your business, it's NOT a business - it's a hobby.

Hobbies, for the most part, do NOT make you the kind of money that being serious will.

I refuse to teach people who refuse to invest in an autoresponder. To me, it's simply critical and key to Internet marketing. It would be like someone wanting to earn a Ferrari but doesn't want to earn their drivers' license first.

I'm all for free (heck my current product will show how to find all that stuff online) but c'mon.

Your business is an investment.

Don't treat it like a game.

I'm using mail chimp for free but the limit is 2000 subs so I'm going to have to pay sometime.

The FREE plugin is ok for beginners who just wanted to start out the adventure of business via email marketing.

However, when the business grows, it is indeed imperative to switch to a more reliable autoresponder.

I've used a cheaper version (don't want to mentioned it here) which contain about nearly 3k of email list. However, the delivery rate is sometimes not OK. Sometimes, too late.

I've added to my business AWEBER. I'm yet to explore about it but I am sure it will be a good and reliable one.

Wish me luck.

Autoresponder services like Aweber and ConstantContact are meant more for larger businesses who cant take risks with plucky little WP plugins that may not exist tomorrow. They also provide very detailed analytics which I think most smaller or one man shows could do without.

I actually agree with the OP - if you're starting out on a budget then one of the free WP newsletter plugins can do the job for free leaving those funds free for business generating spends.

Another option is to get a self-hosted AR like Rapid Mailer, which can use either your server or can hook into Amazon SES, SendGrid, etc. Far cheaper.

I've pretty much shied away from FREE AR's as
the quality for me is questionable and issues may arise of out doing so.

Never take the "free" route as it may cost you more than $$$.

Because I get phenomenally good value from it, for a tax-deductible payment of "next-to-nothing" compared with the income it brings me, and I wouldn't be able to earn most of that money without it.

And because I have none of the problems and disadvantages of trying to send out my own (which would be a nightmare and a disaster for me).

Here's the reality: nobody really needs a free autoresponder. People comparatively unfamiliar with the practical details of truly successful email marketing just imagine that they do. This post explains why: http://www.warriorforum.com/email-ma...ml#post9320870 (and the whole thread is worth reading, for anyone intending to try to use a free service or to try to send out their own).

if one have a small list maybe this is ok but otherwise this means a lot of troubles, in my experience

I am of an opinion that if you run business you always should have backup.

Putting your entire business in hands of somebody else, somebody who can shut your income on a whim is not smart things to do.

I am also in an opinion that service like AWeber and GetResponse are not built for big businesses, because the functionality they offer is very basic. There is no contact tracking, and there is no any kind of automation. And it doesn't seem like they are even working on implementing it.

Then there of course a subject of deliverability of those big guys, many say on a self hosted solution t is going to be a problem and cost money.

Well, recently GR had problems with hotmail and AW had problems with yahoo, and people reported. If you tied with them, then they are effectively affected your income, and you can do nothing about it.

On other hand self hosting solution you could just switch to another SMTP server and forget that you even had those problems with yahoo or hotmail.

My point is, if you have a serious and successful business, then there always need to have a plan B, a recovery plan.